Eastern Crowned Warbler, Bempton 5th October 2016

Photo courtesy Dave Carr @birdphotos007

The fourth record for the UK of Eastern Crowned Warbler was identified at Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve by Dave Aitken & Trevor Charlton, in a small copse close to the car park, yesterday Tuesday 4th October 2016.

News broke early yesterday evening, so this morning I made my way over there, arriving mid morning. There was a small crowd of birders staking out the copse & I gained very brief views almost immediately, but the bird disappeared. A couple of hours later & the Eastern Crowned Warbler reappeared in glorious sunshine in the exact part of the copse I'd been positioned at for nearly all of the two hour wait. It performed for several minutes only a few feet away, so close on a few occasions I was unable to focus my bins.

I spent a short time below the copse & had reasonable brief views at the right hand end, but looking right into the sun.

Crippling views were obtained of this striking east Asian passerine over several minutes from both the left & right ends above the copse. I was positioned primarily near the left hand end, looking down the bank & through a small gap in the foliage with the sun behind. Many other birds were repeatedly using this area including Yellow-browed Warblers (2+), Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests, Blackcap, Robins, Wrens, Tree Sparrows.

Photo courtesy Dave Carr @birdphotos007

A couple of great photos by John Pringle: Photo 1, Photo 2
More great photos by Steve Williams: Photo 1, Photo 2

Previous records:
2009 Durham, Trow Quarry, South Shields, first-winter, 22nd to 24th October (D. Holden, M. Newsome et al.).
2011 Hertfordshire, Hilfield Park Resr, first-winter, 30th October, trapped (J. Fearnside et al.)
2014 Cleveland, Hunley Golf Course, Brotton, first-winter, 30th October to 1st November (I. Kendall et al.).